Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 800 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech

By SAM METZ and MOSA’AB ElSHAMY
Associated Press

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 800 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. But the full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest. State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech late at night, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. Morocco’s Interior Ministry said Saturday morning that at least 820 people had died, and another 672 people were injured. In Marrakech, the famous 12th century Koutoubia Mosque suffered damage, but the extent was not immediately clear.